


Lanterns and Rain

by 3rdgymmanager



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Ennoshita Chikara is a Good Friend, Gen, Long-Suffering Ennoshita Chikara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29023659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3rdgymmanager/pseuds/3rdgymmanager
Summary: What's an accidental first date  with Ennoshita like?
Relationships: Ennoshita Chikara/Reader
Kudos: 12





	Lanterns and Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Timeskip Ennoshita gets stuck with reader and is unwilling to end the night. SO WHOLESOME! SO SWEET! LOWKEY MEET CUTE!

Who is he? 

Everytime you go to the convenience store at the corner of your office, you run into a handsome enough medical worker who must also work nearby. You’ve thought about striking up a conversation at some point, but felt that it was too awkward. And so you resign yourself to nodding in acknowledgement when you two make eye contact. 

You see him again tonight after work when you tiredly bought some microwavable food for your dinner. As you start walking out, the rain sends you back in. 

“Fuck this!” you scream. The week just refuses to end.

“Do you need an umbrella?” He asks. Shit, you really said that out loud. 

Never mind that you could’ve just bought your own umbrella. You were in a convenience store. There was a bin full of plastic umbrellas beside you. 

“My clinic is near enough that I can just run back. Take it.” he points towards his umbrella near the door. The rain pours harder. You grumpily shake your head. 

“No, thanks. Even if I had an umbrella, I’d still be soaking wet.” 

He nods in understandingly then quietly heads into the aisle to find his meal. You angrily shove your food into the microwave. Guess you’ll have to eat here to pass the time. 

While waiting for your dinner to get hot, he pops his dinner into the microwave beside yours. The place was eerily quiet except for the whirring of machines. 

He casually asks, turning towards you, “Is there anything I can help with? You seem to be having a…not great time.”

“There’s nothing that can salvage this horrible day at work.” Your exasperation finally spills over, “I wanted to see the Tanabata Lantern Festival, but the weather is shit and I guess I’ll just have to go home. It’s just a festival. It happens every year.” You feel like you were cursing incoherently as you spoke. 

“Anyways, why are you here? Don’t you have a microwave at your clinic?” You accidentally sound like you were trying to pick a fight even though you weren’t. 

“Sometimes I just need a break from that place.” he chuckles, “And wanting to go to the festival is not silly. It happens every year, but only once. I’ve been going there since I was a kid and I still go now.” 

“Is it really that worth going?” you ask, cocking your head in, genuinely curious. 

“I’m not really sure what makes something worth going, but I still want to see it. Don’t you?” You’re so absorbed by the conversation you don’t notice that the timer was up. He hands you your dinner. You both take a seat beside the window.

“I’m not from the prefecture,” you confess, “I’m just here for a work transfer. Part of me wants to see the lanterns because I know I might get transferred out at some point.”

“Then you should see it while you’re still here.” he urges, “You should come with me when the rain stops. I’m going around tonight.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------  
When you get to the local shopping center, he stops by a small shop about to close for the night and hands you a taiyaki, a fish-shaped pancake with red bean filling, while you take a selfie with some lanterns.

“It’s pretty good,” he says, “Even better on rainy days.” You graciously thank him. 

“Do you want a photo? It will give you something to send for people back home.” he adds. You nod and hand him your phone. His heart skips a beat when you flash him a smile, the traces from your earlier frustrations erased. 

“If only,” he snorts to himself. You’re out of his league. He knows that much. 

“You should have a photo too. For your yearly documentation.” you insist. He initially refuses and eventually relents. When he finds a lantern he likes, he turns to you and smiles, lighting up his whole face. You want to sigh. He’s so cute when he smiles. 

You slowly walk through the length of the district, exploring the shops and the different lanterns on display. Sendai is interesting enough but part of you just wants to get to know your favorite convenience store stranger—to see him up close and hear him talk. As many of the nearby stores start closing, the district hall becomes colder. You swing by Mcdonald’s to buy hot chocolate to keep your hands warm and to have a place to sit with him a little bit longer. 

“It’s getting late,” you unwillingly acknowledge, the steam from the cup wafting to your face. You’re both slowly putting off the end of the night, waiting to see who would bring it up first. 

He meets your eyes before looking away and shyly admitting, “And I have work tomorrow.”

For a moment, you both look out at the McDonald’s logo flickers. The clanking of trays fills the quiet. From where the two of you sat, you can see the city lights and the nearby suburbs. 

“I should go home.” he murmurs, smiling mildly. 

You two silently walk down the stairs with the soft pitter patter of the rain dripping on the pipes and pavement. You stand in front of each other a little while longer outside the doors. 

“We—“ he stumbles tensely, “Next week—I—uh”

“Do you wanna do this again next week?” you fill in for him, “I’ve been meaning to get to know you since we run into each other so often.” His expression is a mix of relief, surprise and joy. 

“Are you free next Sunday?” he manages to say. You nod and exchange numbers. 

“I’m Chikara Ennoshita by the way. I’m not sure I’ve properly introduced myself.” he laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. You laugh and tell him your name too. 

Just before you turn your heels towards home, you glance at him one more time, “Chikara, you weren’t really planning to go around tonight were you?”

He shakes his head and smiles, “Not until after dinner, but you didn’t need to know that.”


End file.
